Misunderstandings, slapstick, and giant poo…what more could a young reader want?
Cursed with cuteness, all Lin the panda wants to do is be bad.
Even though Lin’s cuddliness won her a spot at the city zoo the other pandas covet, she just wants to return to the panda sanctuary and play with her beloved (though doltish) older brother, Face-Like-A-Bag-Of-Potatoes. She and her new panda friend Fu decide that if being a good panda got her to the zoo, being a bad panda will get her sent back. Lin’s first hurdle is Fu, as he is too kind to be a bad panda along with her. Lin decides scaring pigeons is a good first step, but the pigeons aren’t afraid of cute Lin, and the humans think she’s so cute trying to scare the pigeons, they take photos. When she tries to scare off all the visitors at the main gate, they snap more photos of her trying to be scary. She enlists the help of Malo, a capuchin monkey. Will any of their plans succeed? (Hint: Don’t call her a “fluffy-wuffy bear.”) Creators of the Dave Pigeon series, popular overseas, Haddow and Dempsey kick off a new series of giggle-out-loud early chapter books with this introduction to Lin and her cuteness problem. The easy-reading text retains its original British spelling and punctuation along with the occasional criticism. Dempsey’s two-color vignettes and comics panels illustrate the silliness.
Misunderstandings, slapstick, and giant poo…what more could a young reader want? (Animal fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-571-35241-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Two delightfully dense heroes bring folk tales into the 21st century, and young readers are all the richer for it.
Two thickheaded macaroni noodles prove the old adage: a fool and his firewood are soon parted.
Fools have been called “noodleheads” for centuries, but until recently few have represented the term quite so literally. Mac and Mac aren’t the brightest pieces of pasta in the world, but their hearts are in the right place. Here, the two decide to help their mama out by gathering firewood in hopes that she’ll bake them a cake. As they are attempting to cut the very branch they’re sitting on, a passing meatball points out that they are mere minutes away from bruised bottoms. When his words come to pass, our heroes decide the meatball is clairvoyant and demand to know their future. Drawing on and smoothly weaving together a variety of folk tales, the brief graphic novel describes how its obtuse protagonists single-mindedly seek cake, even as they anticipate death, purchase “firewood seeds” (aka acorns), and accidentally dig their mother a garden. Emergent readers will appreciate the simple text, short chapters, and comics-inspired paneled illustrations. Adults will appreciate the authors’ note, which goes into some detail about each chapter’s folk origins.
Two delightfully dense heroes bring folk tales into the 21st century, and young readers are all the richer for it. (Graphic early reader. 5-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3673-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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